


We'll Still Be Together After This is Over.

by theatergirl06



Series: Quarantine Nightmares [7]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23554873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatergirl06/pseuds/theatergirl06
Summary: The seventh night of the stay-at-home order brings Anna of Cleves some unexpected sleep and an even more unexpected meeting.
Series: Quarantine Nightmares [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682281
Comments: 3
Kudos: 79





	We'll Still Be Together After This is Over.

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This fic talks about issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you don't feel comfortable reading about that, skip this one.

Anna of Cleves was bored out of her mind. Quarantine was hard on all of them, and it was by the seventh day that all of them really seemed to be feeling the strain most of all. Catherine, who had been praying constantly and consistently every single day, was instead sitting on her balcony and trying to take close-up photos of the flowers.This wouldn’t have been abnormal for Jane or Kat or even Cathy, but Catherine had made it quite well known in their apartment that she hated photography.

Jane had spent three hours trying to cook, but for whatever reason had failed that day, and ended up calling for takeout while she sat in the kitchen staring at the floury, oily mess she’d made. She didn’t have the heart to clean it up. 

Of course nobody realized that Cathy was having a bad day. She was locked in her room, just as she usually was, but once inside, she couldn’t even bear to open her writing. Since last night’s sleep-deprived disaster, she hadn’t been able to rid herself of her writer’s block. She just couldn’t think of anything. Eventually, she curled up in her window seat with one of the books from her shelf, one she’d borrowed from Kat. Kat had insisted she read it, said it was based off of a musical that they all needed to listen to. 

_ Dear Evan Hansen.  _ Hmm.

Out in the television room, Anna, Anne, and Kat were all lying on the couch in one big heap. Between the three of them, they had had exactly four ideas of things to do within the last six hours. None of them had really liked the ideas, so here they were, lying on the couch, not even speaking, just being incredibly bored.

Somehow, all the queens managed to stay in whatever position they were in until 6PM. Anna suspected that they’d all gone into their heads, but she didn’t know where they’d all gone. She only knew that  _ she’d  _ been trying to remember the words to every Rihanna song she knew. 

At exactly 6PM, Cathy came bursting out of her bedroom, curly hair flying everywhere and a book held in her hand. 

“Alright, everyone. We’re all tired of being bored. We all need something to do. I just read this book based on a musical that Kat made me read.” She took a deep breath, panting. “So let’s sing some karaoke.”

Before the six of them knew it, they were all sitting in the television room with the YouTube channel cued up, the pizzas Jane had ordered on the coffee table, and microphones in hand. 

Of course they had to do their own show first. They sang through the fun bits like  _ Holbein  _ and  _ Wearing Yellow to a Funeral,  _ as well as the harder bits like Jane’s riff and well...all of All You Wanna Do. By the time they were finished, all of them had settled into taking the microphones in a casual setting. 

Kat went first. She hadn’t wanted to, but after Cathy told her that it was her book that had given her the karaoke idea. She looked slightly tentative singing a slower song to them, but the more she sang, the more she got into the tune, her voice melting their hearts as she sang her song.

_ Why should I play the grieving girl and lie? Saying that I miss you, and that my world has gone dark without your light? I will sing no requiem tonight. _

When she finished, the other queens gave her an incredibly noisy round of applause, and she was tackled into a hug by Anne, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles. 

Cathy went next, and she took awhile to find the track she wanted, because she needed a transposed key. But she did, and when she did, her voice was perfect, bringing Jane and Kat to tears, and even Catherine and Anne very close to it. 

_ On the outside always looking in, will I ever be more than I’ve always been ‘cause I’m tap tap tapping on the glass. Waving through a window, oh I try to speak but nobody can hear so I wait around for an answer to appear now I’m watch watch watching people pass. Waving though a window whoah. Can anybody see? Is anybody waving back at me? _

After that, Anne decided that they needed a little “lightening up.” So of course it was Anna’s luck that Anne immediately grabbed  _ her  _ hand. But she actually managed to have a pretty good time, despite the...rather odd lyrics that she’d never ever pictured herself singing out loud. 

_ And I miss talking about life and other stuff. _

_ Very specific. _

_ Shut up.  _

By the end, Anna was surprised that the other queens were actually laughing. She plopped back down on the couch with a smile on her face, but that smile faded as Anne whispered something in Catherine’s ear. Anna saw a look of rage pass over the first queen’s face, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced with a smirk. She got up and turned on the karaoke track, a look of determination on her face. The music started. 

_ I love play rehearsal. Because it’s the best! _

It took that one line for every single queen in the room, including Catherine, to burst into laughter. Tears were streaming down Kat and Anne’s faces, Cathy was lying on her back, Jane had fallen to the floor, and Catherine was still singing.

It was complete wonderful chaos. 

By the end, it was completely impossible for anyone to stop laughing. So of course Jane took it upon herself to calm them all down. It was 10PM already, and despite their nonstop giggling, Jane managed to get them all to settle down with the final song of the night.

_ On my own. Pretending he’s beside me. _

With a smile and an arm around Anna’s shoulders, Kat joined in with the next line.

_ All alone, I walk with him ‘till morning. _

Anne grinned and belted out the third line as loudly and off-key as she could. 

_ Without him, I feel his arms around me.  _

Catherine and Cathy smiled and joined in as Cathy curled up on Catherine’s lap, showing the most daughterly affection Anna had ever seen from her. 

_ And when I lose my way I close my eyes… _

Anna squeezed Kat’s hand as she softly sang the last line.

_ And he has found me. _

The queens continued through the lines, their soft voices rising up and mixing in the air. Though the song was nothing like their lives or their beliefs, its haunting beauty cast a sort of spell over them all. By the time they got to the last line, they couldn’t think of anything else.

_ I love him...but only on my own.  _

Slowly, in ones and twos, they began to get up and go to bed. Adorably, the very sleep deprived Cathy had fallen asleep in Catherine’s lap, and the Spanish queen didn’t even bother trying to hide the enormous smile on her face as she carried the writer up the stairs to her room. 

Next to leave was Anne, who seemed, well, not calm, but slightly less hyper than usual. She happily and lightly skipped out of the room and up both flights of stairs. Anna could hear her footsteps all the way up to the third floor. Jane grinned and followed her out the door, leaving Kat and Anna alone in the room. Smiling, Anna reached over and grabbed Kat’s hand, and the two walked together up the stairs, passine Catherine on the way and collapsing into Kat’s bed the second they reached the top. For the first night in three days, Anna fell asleep instantly.

At midnight exactly, her sleep was interrupted by very loud screaming coming from downstairs. The German queen sat bolt upright in bed and looked around. Kat’s warm body was curled up around her legs, still fast asleep and cuddling her little teddy bear. 

Anna untangled herself from Kat as slowly as she could, trying her best not to wake up her girlfriend. The second she’d gotten untangled, she tiptoed over to the door and pressed her ear to the wood. She listened for footsteps from downstairs, but heard none. Everyone was probably asleep if that was the case. All of the queens had learned the sounds of footsteps within their first few weeks after coming back so that they could avoid being up all night every night. 

Anna yawned with exhaustion as she padded down the stairs. As she did, she heard the soft sounds of crying coming from Jane’s room. She froze for a second. She and Jane weren’t close at all. Out of all the queens, she’d probably even say that she was the  _ least  _ close to Jane.

But the third queen was sobbing. And Anna was there.

The fourth queen descended the last few steps and knocked softly on Jane’s door. 

“Who is it?” Anna could barely hear the voice coming through the door. It was soft and shaking under the sobs.

“Jane, it’s me. Can...can I help?”

There was a pause. Then more crying. Though she hadn’t officially been invited in, Anna made the decision to open the door anyway. She crept softly into the room and onto the bed next to Jane. She gently put her arms around the woman’s shoulders, and Jane rested her head on her chest and cried.

“I just...I had a nightmare that everyone got sick and we were all dying, and it was just like last time all over again, I had to leave my family too soon, and I was all alone, and there was nothing I could do, and they were all  _ gone! _ ” Her voice dissolved into sobs again and she buried her face in Anna’s shoulder. 

Anna rested her head on top of Jane’s. She wasn’t sure what to say, but she tried her best. 

“Look, Jane. I can’t promise that we’re all going to be completely safe during this. But we’re doing everything we can do. We’ll get through this together. And you’re never going to be alone again, because you have us now. We’re not going anywhere.”

“She’s right, you know,” came a voice from the doorway. Anna looked up and saw both Kat and Cathy standing there. They came into the room and plopped onto the bed, Cathy leaning on Jane’s shoulder and Kat curling up at Anna’s feet, smiling. “We’re family, mum.”

Jane smiled weakly. “But what if something happens to you? Or Anne? Or anyone?”

“Then,” said Anne Boleyn from the doorway as she came and rested her head on Anna’s shoulder, “we deal with it together, and we help that person heal as best as we can.”

“As a family,” said Catherine, coming to join the pile and putting her arms around Jane and Anna as best as she could. Jane smiled.

“As a family.”

Rain pattered on the windows, making soothing noises that caused Cathy’s eyelids to droop shut. Kat smiled up at Anna, who rubbed her hair affectionately. Anne poked Catherine in the arm, and Catherine poked her right back. 

There would be more nightmares and fear and hardships to come. But the queens would handle those things as best as they could, just like they’d handled everything else that had come their way.

Together. 


End file.
